Steering: Strangely, when discussing this aspect of riding it is one that is thought about the least, almost as if it will look after itself. When you do think about it and work to identify what input is being made and when, then significant improvements can be made in your riding. We can improve our steering in two areas, low speed and high speed inputs. We define low speed as walking pace, car parks, traffic light shuffle, the dreaded U-Turn etc, at low speed we should also think about leaving the front brake out of the equation completely. A majority of low speed drops occur because the front brake has been applied. Simply put if we are steering at low speed the handle bars will be turned, apply the front brake and stop the wheel turning the weight of the bike is going to take over before you can do anything about it, even if you get a foot down, odds are against you being able to hold the bike up. Use the rear brake only when adjusting speed or stopping during low speed manoeuvring, or to help stability. The most important single skill to maintain in any form of steering is to look at where you want to be going, so for a U Turn, that is back over your shoulder, not at the opposite kerb, in a corner, up the road towards the exit, and continue looking where the road is going. Steering and controlling a bike in low speed manoeuvres depends to some extent on the engine configuration and personal preference. Large capacity V twins will need to have the clutch slipped, smaller V twins and parallel twins will cope easily with the clutch all the way out, triples and four cylinder bikes depend on capacity and gearing as much as personal choice. Regardless of this, drag the rear brake to help stretch the bike out and add control and stability. The bike is going to have to lean in order to complete the manoeuvre, so angle your upper body out and away, counter balancing, but remain relaxed in the upper body to allow the bike to lean. Practice one handed figure of eights to give confidence with this, (where you can control the speed with a small throttle input balanced against the rear brake, this is why big V twins need the clutch). Start by keeping your left finger tips on the handle bar, then your knee, and then the tank. Once you have mastered this, moving your body weight from the knees upwards will be less of a challenge. With forward momentum set up and fully under control, take your weight on the foot pegs and shift your whole body to the outside of the turn, as far as getting one buttock off the seat, look back over your shoulder and let the bike lean into the turn. You have induced the turn by looking over your shoulder, without conscious thought applying a little pressure to the inside handlebar and the bike has pivoted around the headstock. The handle bars then turn to steer in the direction required, a term referred to as counter steering. Look left, push left, and turn/lean left. Look right, push right, and turn/lean right. I am sure you remember that from licence training. If you want to prove this to yourself, park the bike up in first gear and rest it on the side stand, put your feet up on the footpegs and sit in line with the bike. This will feel a little strange but the stand will take the weight. Push forward on the left handlebar and note that the bike leans to the left – proving that Push Left Turn Left really works. If you apply a gentle amount of pressure to the right ‘bar the bike will start to stand up. You can apply much of the same technique when exiting tight driveways, junctions; car parks etc, normally stopping short of moving off the seat, just use the upper body. Out on the open road we are using counter steering all the time to set up and control cornering. Most of the time though without too much conscious thought about it. Higher speed steering can be set up on the front brake, but at first should not be commenced until the brake has been released. Set up early for the corner, maintain a wide approach until you can either see the exit itself, or the vanishing point is giving you enough information to determine where it is with absolute confidence, now think about steering directly towards the exit, applying a little more pressure to the inside ‘bar. The bike will lean a little more, heading for the exit, use an increase in throttle input to help stand the bike up as you relax the steering input, gently feeding in the throttle as you come fully upright. Whilst this technique is not aimed directly at going faster, by getting into the corner a little slower and more upright, the amount of time you are leaning the ‘bike most is limited, allowing an earlier application of the throttle and a quicker exit, properly set up to enter the next corner, in effect taking the corner a little quicker. With more experience and confidence the front brake effort can be carried into the corner, a little more each time, but please build up to this slowly, and better on your own, peer pressure has caused a lot of unnecessary accidents. Complete the heaviest braking upright, leaving a small adjustment to be made, as soon as you want to start steering into the corner you should be in the process of releasing the front brake. There is a finite amount of grip available, either for braking or steering, so the more you do of one, the less you can do of the other. Time and experience will let you develop this knowledge, but remember that the amount of grip available is always dependant on the condition of the road surface. This technique is better practiced on a track first, get to know your bike and its characteristics, as the road is not the place to experiment, and practice at less than full pace, stay well within your comfort zone. Tyre choice also has a determining affect on how much braking you can carry into a corner, the really are more than black round rubber things. Construction, tread patterns and compound all combine to offer more or less resistance to leaning/steering whilst on the brakes. Some road biased tyres will want to stand up, more sport biased tyres will feel quite neutral steering with the front brake applied. Build up to it slowly and stay nice and relaxed so that you can interpret the information coming back to you from the front tyre. You should always be able to speed up, slow down or steer when you are cornering, if not, then you are in too fast. For more information, answers to questions or to book a1 to 1 session, contact Mark on; Mobile 0415 072 082 Email [email protected] visit advancedroadcrafttechniques.au
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:22:11 +0000
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